Step 1 : The look

The first step is to place your glass of wine above a clear white surface, ideally in the light.  You’ll be able to judge how clear it is based on the number of particles that are held in suspension, and gauge its level of acidity.  If you can see thick tears form on the inside of the glass, it’s a sign that the wine is full-bodied, and inversely if the tears are finer and flow more quickly, the wine is likely to be more acidic.

You can also pick up some clues regarding the wine’s age to indicate whether the wine is likely to be young or old.  For red wines, the colour changes from bright red or purple for the youngest wines to a rusty colour for the older ones.  And for the white wines, from pale yellow or even green to a deep amber colour.

Step 2 : The nose

This phase is done in two parts.  Without moving the glass, place your nose over the glass and take in a big sniff. This is known as the first nose.  Then swill the wine carefully around the glass a few times to oxygenate the wine and liberate the less volatile aromas before sniffing again.  This is known as the second nose.  Often, there is a big difference between the first and second noses.

There are different types of aromas; primary, secondary, and tertiary aromas.  The primary aromas come from the grapes themselves, and there are a wide range of smells such as floral ones (acacia, honeysuckle, jasmin, rose, lilac etc.), fruity aromas (pineapple, apple, lemon, mango, peach, apricot, raspberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, etc.), vegetal aromas (aniseed, thyme, grass, pepper, fennel etc.), or spicy aromas (cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, etc.)

The secondary aromas come from the fermentation, and we can find three distinct types.  There are those that are produced by the fermentation process such as brioche, yeast or biscuit.  There are also the milky aromas such as butter, yoghurt or milk, and the alcoholic aromas such as boiled sweets, nail polish, or banana.

The tertiary aromas develop during the ageing process, several months after the harvest.  Oak barrels give woody aromas such as cedar, oak, vanilla, and eucalyptus, spicy aromas such as pepper, cinnamon, and liquorice, or toasted aromas such as toast, coffee, grilled almonds, or tabaco.

Step 3 : The taste

When finally getting to the tasting stage, take a small amount of wine in the mouth, breath in a little air between the lips, swill the wine around the mouth, then breath out of the nose to let the taste and aromas to develop, before swallowing the wine or spitting it out.    
There are three moments to take note of:
-    The attack.  What impression does the wine give the moment you take it into your mouth?  It can be weak, strong, or intense.  
-    The mid-palate.  Analyse the texture of the wine and the aromas.  Is it smooth, acidic, are there any new aromas that have developed since step 2?
-    The finish.  Once you’ve swallowed the wine, what sensation prevails, and how long does the taste last?  If there are lots of tannins present it will have a longer finish, and a wine that is fruitier is likely to have a shorter finish. 

Using our senses is very important in tasting wine, and by following these stages, you will be able to comment on a wine more easily, and to compare it with others.  Wine-tasting skills improve with practice and remembering the characteristics of the wines that you have previously tasted.  You can always use a notebook to write down your thoughts.  And remember the two most important things when tasting wine.  It starts with “I like the wine, or I don’t”.  And secondly, we all have our own perceptions of smell and taste, and so it is remains very subjective!

To develop your wine tasting skills further, you can participate in a Vinification Experience Day and learn directly from the winemaker and a Gourmet Odyssey wine expert.  Each of the partner wineries are organically certified, and the wine-making course teaches you about all that happens in the cellar from the harvest, right up until the moment when the wine is ready for drinking  During the day, you’ll see how the fermentation phases change the structure of the wine, participate in a wine-tasting workshop to help you develop your senses, taste wines that are in the ageing process, and get involved in blending different wines.   

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We kick off with a great classic.  A butterfly shoulder of lamb, accompanied by the fruity and intense Côte du Rhône Villages Sablet red from Château Cohola.

The Terrasses du Larzac “Lansade” red from Château de Jonquières pairs perfectly with a smoked duck salad.  Freshness on the palate with a nice long finish. 

The colourful asian sautéed noodles with ginger, served with a fruity, aromatic Pinot Gris Rosenberg white wine from Domaine Stentz-Buecher in Alsace for your lighter dishes when it gets hot.

Wild sea bass or swordfish accompanied by a dry white wine next to the sea like the Santenay Village from Domaine Chapelle.  This rich Burgundy wine will reveal its fresh side thanks to the saltiness of the fish.

A spatch-cooked chicken on the barbecue is perfect with the Santenay “Clos des Cornières” red, our 100% pinot noir from Domaine Chapelle.  It’s a nice strong Burgundy with notes of liquorice that goes very well with a tarragon marinade.

Cold roast beef with home-made chutney is a fine match for our Clos de la Bonnelière red wine from Château de la Bonnelière.  This refined Chinon wine mixes power and purity to give added elegance to your summer picnic.

And to finish in beauty, what better for the gourmands than a grilled côtes de bœuf served with glass of Château Coutet Saint-Emilion Grand Cru.  The fruitiness and light touch of spice of this fantastic Bordeaux will bring out the best in the beef. 

Just a few ideas of some great meals and wine to share or treat yourself to this summer!

Don’t forget to tag us on the social media and immortalise your food pairings with the wines of Gourmet Odyssey’s organic partners with the tag #SUMMERWITHGOURMETODYSSEY.

All the Gourmet Odyssey team wish you a great summer!

Get involved in making your own personalised bottles of wine with the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience.

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Chéli and Jérôme, the passionate winemakers at Château Cohola, welcomed us warmly to their organic winery for a Discovery Experience Day.  The aim of this wine experience day was to learn about the work required in the vineyard to nurture the vines and produce the best quality grapes possible.

 

 

Perched in the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail ridge, the winery has a stunning view over to the village of Sablet and the plain of Côtes du Rhône vineyards that stretch below.  This was our backdrop for the introductions to the day by Mark, the founder of Gourmet Odyssey, and Chéli and Jérôme from Château Cohola.

We then headed out into the vineyards, pausing on the way for Jérôme to explain the work done in the vineyards during the winter months, notably the different pruning methods used for different grape varietals, and the organic methods used to nurture and protect the vines.

At this time of year, the vines grow rapidly, and it’s a very busy period to try and keep everything in order, and so the help of our winemakers-for-a-day was very much appreciated!  As always with a Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience Day, we had some work to do to attach the staked vines, or “échalas” vines.

The vineyards at Château Cohola are spread among 15 terraces, some of which are fairly small and unpractical for tractors and heavy machinery to access.  In such places the échalas system is used to provide support to the vines that would normally be done by training wires.  A wooden stake is positioned next to each vine that has been pruned using the goblet method, and once the branches have grown to around a metre in length they are bunched together and tied around the stake using a piece of raffia.  This will help the vine support the weight of the grapes to come and reduces the risk of branches being damaged by wind, something that is often present in the Rhone Valley.

Chéli and Jérôme demonstrated how to attach the vines, and then in pairs we spread out in the vineyard to have a go ourselves.  Standing on opposite sides of the vine, we collected together all of the vine branches.  One person hugged the vine to keep them all together, whilst the other tied a piece of raffia around the stake and branches to keep them in place.

It took us a few vines to get the hang of it, but we were soon experts, and we became much quicker.  It’s also a very rewarding task, as you can instantly see the result of your work.  When we arrived in the vineyard, the branches were falling in all directions, but at the end everything was very orderly, and we could walk easily around the vines.  This also has the benefit of lifting the branches off the ground and from becoming entwined with the surrounding vines which would increase the risk of disease spreading.

Jérôme then guided us up the hill, explaining the different plants along the way, until we arrived at another stunning viewpoint looking over the Rhone Valley below.  Here we enjoyed an aperitif of the Château Cohola rosé wine, with some local olives and cheese.

Back at the winery, we sat down to lunch in the shade of the platane trees.  With the deliciously fresh crespou starter we enjoyed the Château Cohola Cuvée Fruit red wine.  To accompany the filet mignon and ratatouille main course, we tasted the 2018 vintage of the Château Cohola Sablet, the red wine that is chosen for the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience. The local goat’s cheese was served with the delicious honey made from the winery’s own beehives and the 2021 Château Cohola Sablet white wine. Lunch ended with a strawberry tart and two more wines.  First the Château Cohola TBF red wine, which is made using wine aged in a clay amphorae and oak and stainless-steel barrels, followed by the powerful and full-bodied Cor Hominis Laetificat Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

After lunch, we visited our adopted vines that will produce the grenache grapes used to make the wine that we will receive at the end of the experience. 

Jérôme then explained the work that remains to be done between now and the harvest before we headed down into the village of Sablet for a quick tour of the chai. 

Chéli and Jérôme showed us the press used to extract the juice from the grapes for the white and rosé wines, and the vats where the grape juice will ferment, and then the barrel room where the wines are aged.  We’ll be spending more time here during the Harvest and Vinification Experience Days.

Many thanks to all for a fantastic day! We’ll think a little differently and will appreciate the work that goes into making wine a bit more when we open that next bottle of wine!

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